It's 9AM
Whose job is it anyway?
My job is to protect the most vulnerable, she said.
She was a State Senator.
She was from a “hood” part of the state, and she was speaking on an interview about a boy who died
He was a special needs kid, at a special needs facility
One just like the one my cousin spent most of her teen and young adult life in
Learning skills so she could go live in a group house
A functional non-verbal four year old
She made it to the group home
He didn’t
Different facilities, different outcomes, maybe
But the seventeen year old kid in lower Arkansas was six foot three and two hundred eighty pounds
Strong, with no brakes and not of mind enough to know he could hurt when he lashed out
You’ve seen guys like him on the news
Homeless guys or home bound guys who got out
Unaware of their brute strength and brutality
And when asked, guided or goaded, sometimes they lash out
When the kid in LA lashed out, they lashed him to the bed
Soft restraints that were only supposed to hold him tight until he calmed down
Except he didn’t
Or they forgot
Or more likely, he hurt someone and they got mad so they left him tied to the bed
For thirteen days
Then he died
Sad, sure. The mom sued and the government run business paid out.
They went through a state review and fired thirteen people.
They went through a Federal review and fired the Director, wrote new SOP’s, and policy and plans.
Then the head of the whole agency, all the way up to the top, had to go sit in front of the state Senate and explain the what, why and how it happened.
And the how, what and why it won’t again.
Where the State Senator in charge of the grilling
Excuse me, investigation, was a woman whose job was to protect the most vulnerable
A great sound bite
Except…
She had a seventeen year old special needs son of her own
Which screamed conflict of interest
If you look at it one way,
And most special needs don’t vote
(there are so many left jokes and right jokes here, it’s not even funny… just sad)
But her claim of who she represented struck a chord
Because she doesn’t
Not really
If pressed, and if her voters were asked a simple question, they might say yes, her job is to represent them.
Not just the most vulnerable, though a lot of her constituents might feel like that
And it might include some special needs folks, and some regular folks, and some exceptional folks and some criminals, and some blue collar workers, and some folks on the government dole
Remember when I joked that Tuesdays were a mystery?
Yeah. Now it’s official.
If you grabbed RED TIDE RETIRED or A PINT OF PROBLEMS from BookFunnel, you’re in the right place. You told me you like mysteries—so I’m sending you mysteries. Simple.
(If you’re not into that, hit unsubscribe below. No hard feelings. I’d rather have a smaller list that actually wants this.)
Why “Mystery Tuesday” Exists
Platforms like YouTube and Amazon love neat little boxes.
Thriller readers here. Mystery readers there. Western readers over there.
I write in seven genres, which apparently makes the algorithm nervous.
So now each genre gets its own lane.
Tuesdays = Mysteries only.
Here’s what you’ll get:
New mystery releases
Updates to the Mysteries-only YouTube audiobook channel
Deep cuts from my backlist
Free books, giveaways, and Kindle Unlimited reads
No westerns. No sci-fi. No spy thrillers. Just crime, clues, and bad decisions.
The Big Mystery Bundle (Ridiculous Deal)
I’ve built a GIANT Mystery Boxset Bundle with everything below:
A Pint of Problems
A Fifth of Trouble
A Shot of Revenge
A Double Shot of Revenge
Red Tide Retired
ILL Intent
A1A
High Tide Homicide
Good and Gone
Booty Shake
Boomer Bust
Widow Washout
Mermaid Mayhem
Wet Suit Pursuit
Pirate Investigator
Lemon Drop
Lemon Squeeze
Pushing Luck
LA Gumbo
Mr. Goodtime
PI Problems
Mr. Lonely
Subsequent Guilt
Fateful Obsession
Lucid
Louche
Crash Corpse
Obstacle Corpse
Lucky Stiff
Foible
That’s a ridiculous amount of reading.
The Math (Spoiler: The Bundle Wins)
Buy them individually: $75+
Buy the BIG MYSTERY BUNDLE: $20 total
BECAUSE
Tomorrow, after my run, I’m breaking this into 2 boxsets, so it’s the last time you can get SO MANY at SUCH a DEAL!
Same price I ran the sci-fi mega bundle for.
No tricks. Just cleaning house and rewarding readers who actually read.
Why I’m Doing This
A few weeks ago, I lost a chunk of files. Brutal.
But it also forced a reset.
I’ve got new mysteries almost ready:
SOMETHING FISHY (Gumbo Adventures)
LEMON HAZE
And more coming fast
This bundle is a limited-time “catch up on everything” deal before the new wave drops.
What Happens Next
Link to the Mysteries-only YouTube channel (free audiobooks)
More giveaways
A fresh mystery short story I dug out while salvaging files
If you want a weekend of page-swiping crime, clues, and chaos: